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New Mexico News

BLM, conservationists reach deal on N.M. resource plan

The Bureau of Land Management and conservation groups have settled an eight-year dispute over a management plan for nearly 10,000 natural gas wells in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico.

The groups claimed the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws in developing a 2003 management plan for drilling over 20 years in the 16,000-square-mile basin that straddles the border of New Mexico and Colorado.

A federal court ruled in favor of the agency in 2008, and the groups countered with an appeal. That appeal was dismissed Monday after both sides reached a compromise that, in part, calls for the BLM to consider impacts to cultural, wildlife and other resources when reviewing new lease sales.

Read the full article from ABC News here.

Congress designates N.M. peak as wilderness area

Congress has approved wilderness status for a parcel of donated land at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge that includes the peak of Chupadera Mountain. Read the full story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

N.M. senators want Valles Caldera's designation re-evaluated

This collapsed volcano in the Jemez Mountains, which erupted more than a million years ago, is the site of a federal experiment in public lands management - a failed experiment, according to critics. Even its most ardent supporters acknowledge that it needs a fix. Read the full story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

EPA to review air-quality permit for N.M. coal-fired plant

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will have to reconsider an air permit the agency issued last year for a proposed $3 billion coal-fired power plant on the nation's largest American Indian reservation, a federal appeals board has ruled. Read the full story from the Daily Times.

Bingaman, Udall introduce N.M. wilderness bill

Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall have introduced a bill to protect the Organ Mountains in Dona Ana County. The New Mexico Democrats said Thursday the Organ Mountains/Desert Peaks Wilderness Act would create a 259,000-acre wilderness area and a 100,000-acre conservation area. Read the full story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

N.M. judge to hear farmers' water rights case today

No matter which way New Mexico Judge Gerald A. Valentine rules in a lawsuit brought by a group of Mesilla Valley farmers and the grandson of the original builder of a dam near Elephant Butte over water stored in the New Mexico reservoir, the decision will be appealed given the important role Elephant Butte water has in New Mexico. Read the full story from the Santa Fe New Mexican .

Effort under way to protect 370 square miles in New Mexico

Buoyed by the passage of the massive omnibus public lands bill this spring, groups are hoping to capture that momentum to pass legislation to create the El Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area in New Mexico that would protect more than 370 square miles of important wildlife habitat. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican (AP).

US appeals court sides with NM in Otero Mesa fight

A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with New Mexico in the state's fight with the Bureau of Land Management over its energy development plan on Otero Mesa, ruling that the BLM should have considered an option that would have put the mesa off-limits to drilling. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican (AP).

Bingaman introduces NM wilderness bill

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Nearly 236,000 acres in northern New Mexico would be designated as a national conservation area under a proposal introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Court orders new review for jaguar habitat

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision not to designate critical habitat and develop a recovery plan for the endangered jaguar was based on incorrect criteria, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Sportsmen stump for lands bill

On Wednesday, hunters and anglers trekked to Washington, D.C. to urge Congress to again consider the massive public-lands bill that failed to pass in the U.S. House last week, and on Saturday, the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance is hosting a forum in Santa Fe to discuss how New Mexico will benefit from the bill. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Senate OKs bill to curb wildlife slaughter

SANTA FE (AP) -- Legislation aimed at stopping the slaughter of wildlife that are munching on crops passed the state Senate on Sunday. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Bingaman moves to extend Doña Ana County wilderness protection

LAS CRUCES — Although a wilderness bill U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman sponsored on Sunday does not include any land in Southern New Mexico’s Organ Mountains, the senator’s office says he plans to introduce legislation to extend wilderness protection to land in the county in the coming months. Read the entire story from the New Mexico Independent .

BLM, private companies see big decline in drilling permits

FARMINGTON — The Bureau of Land Management says there is a 30 percent drop in the number of applications for a permit to drill compared with the number granted during 2007. Read the entire story from The Daily Times.

Drilling company drops suit against Rio Arriba County

Rio Arriba County is no longer being sued over its four-month moratorium on oil and gas drilling. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Governor seeks draft on oil rules

Governor Bill Richardson Monday directed the state Oil Conservation Division to begin drafting new rules specifically aimed at protecting certain portions of Rio Arriba County. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Richardson extends ban on oil, gas drilling

Gov. Bill Richardson has extended a state moratorium on new oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin and Santa Fe County for another six months. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Santa Fe County Helps Oil Fight

Rio Arriba County is getting some help in its battle against an oil and gas company's drilling plans from its neighbor to the south. Read the entire story from the Albuquerque Journal.

Agency looks to extend Galisteo Basin drilling ban

The New Mexico Department of Energy Minerals and Natural Resources wants to extend the state moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin at least six months to equip enforcement regulations with more teeth. Read the entire story from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

County Drilling Rules Won't Protect Tierra Amarilla

TIERRA AMARILLA— The dusty badlands of western Rio Arriba County are no stranger to energy development, with some 11,500 wells pumping oil out of the ground and revenue into state and county coffers. Read the entire story from DrillingSantaFe.com.

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